The root file system must employ journaling or another mechanism ensuring file system consistency.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-4304	GEN003640	SV-38909r1_rule	ECAR-1 ECAR-2 ECAR-3	Medium

Description
File system journaling, or logging, can allow reconstruction of file system data after a system crash, thus, preserving the integrity of data that may have otherwise been lost. Journaling file systems typically do not require consistency checks upon booting after a crash, which can improve system availability. Some file systems employ other mechanisms to ensure consistency which also satisfy this requirement.

Description

File system journaling, or logging, can allow reconstruction of file system data after a system crash, thus, preserving the integrity of data that may have otherwise been lost. Journaling file systems typically do not require consistency checks upon booting after a crash, which can improve system availability. Some file systems employ other mechanisms to ensure consistency which also satisfy this requirement.

STIG	Date
AIX 5.3 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2012-05-25

Details

Check Text ( C-36860r1_chk )
Logging should be enabled for those types of files systems that do not turn on logging by default. Procedure: # mount #lsfs JFS, JFS2, VXFS, HFS, XFS, reiserfs, EXT3, and EXT4 all turn logging on by default and will not be a finding. The ZFS file system uses other mechanisms to provide for file system consistency, and will not be a finding. For other file system types, if the root file system does not have the logging option, this is a finding. If the nolog option or the log=NULL option is set on the root file system, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-36860r1_chk )

Logging should be enabled for those types of files systems that do not turn on logging by default.

Procedure:
# mount
#lsfs

JFS, JFS2, VXFS, HFS, XFS, reiserfs, EXT3, and EXT4 all turn logging on by default and will not be a finding. The ZFS file system uses other mechanisms to provide for file system consistency, and will not be a finding. For other file system types, if the root file system does not have the logging option, this is a finding. If the nolog option or the log=NULL option is set on the root file system, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-4215r2_fix)
Implement file system journaling for the root file system, or use a file system using other mechanisms to ensure consistency. If the root file system supports journaling, enable it. If the file system does not support journaling or another mechanism to ensure consistency, a migration to a different file system will be necessary.